THERE WILL BE FEWER CASES IN SCRUTINY OF INCOME TAX

Good news for all of you. If you’re worried about what questions your income tax officer will ask about your returns, you can relax a...

Good news for all of you.

If you’re worried about what questions yourincome taxofficer will ask about your returns, you can relax a bit.The departmenthas decided to take up fewertax returnsfor scrutiny this year. The Central Board of Direct Taxes had issued an internal circular in December 2009, asking commissioners to select fewer cases for scrutiny.

“Now, only 10-20 cases per range can be selected for scrutiny,” said RK Singh, chief commissioner ofincome tax, Mumbai. He said this notice reduces the number to barely 5% of the original number of cases scrutinised.

An assessing officer can scrutinisetax returnsup to September 30, 2010 for income earned between April 2008, and March 31, 2009. Singh hinted that the new instructions would reduce the interface between the income taxdepartment and taxpayers, thus curbing corruption.

It is learnt that currently more than 1,000 cases are selected for scrutiny in each range headed by a commissioner. “Each I-T officer has 200-300 cases for scrutiny. It overburdens all — the taxpayer, theincome tax department and us,” said a chartered accountant.

But this doesn’t mean you can get away without paying tax. “In the coming years, the cost of tax evasion is going to increase,” Singh said.

“If information is not reported by you then agencies such as banks,insurancecompanies and the National Securities Depository Ltd (which issues PAN cards) can give us the information,” Singh added.